The Smiths appreciation thead

whirlwind

Just a thread to to gauge the opinions of people on the best band of the 80s(in my opinion). Please leave any comments, positive or negetive. also your favourite songs and lyrics.

Sinfonia

What an amazing band.

Took me ages to get into but once I did, I saw what I had been missing out on.

I'd encourage everyone to listen to them.

The Queen is Dead is one of the best albums of all time
I can't really pick favourite songs, and the vast majority of the lyrics are some of the best I've ever heard.

'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore'
'The Queen is Dead (etc.)'
'Bigmouth Strikes Again'
'How Soon Is Now?'
Have some of my favourite lyrics ever, and I could go on.....

Two thumbs up for The Smiths

damonjewel

What a band! When they started off I wasn't into to them at all, I thought they were dorky and a lot of people into them at the time seemed to me to be were dorky too. But I really woke upto them Around the 'How soon is now?' period.

They remain one of my favourite bands, all the pieces just dovetail together, Morrisey's lyrics, Marr's guitar playing, the tight rhythm section of Rourke and Joyce (that really dont get the credit they deserve), the look, the politics, the album covers, and that oh so beautiful sound.

Forget Clapton, Johnny Marr is God!

JLemmon

Yeah one of best bands ever

Fav album is Strangeways

Best lyric

The Queen is Dead
"So I broke into the palace with a sponge and a rusty spanner
she said I know you and you cannot sing
I said that's nothing you should hear me play piano"

funktastic

Yeah 'Strangeways' is underrated as is 'Rank'. Only bad thing is the amount of crappy best of's the record companies always put out of The Smiths. Some really good live videos on youtube.

Sinfonia

JLemmon wrote:

Best lyric

The Queen is Dead
"So I broke into the palace with a sponge and a rusty spanner
she said I know you and you cannot sing
I said that's nothing you should hear me play piano"

Love that line so much

SprostonGreen

JLemmon wrote:

Best lyric

The Queen is Dead
"So I broke into the palace with a sponge and a rusty spanner
she said I know you and you cannot sing
I said that's nothing you should hear me play piano"

There's a better line in that song:

"I said 'Charles dont you ever crave to appear on the front of the Dail Mail, dressed in your mother's bridal veil'"

Alsatian_Cousin

Rubber ring is my favourite song

"I'm here with the cause
I'm holding the torch
In the corner of your room
Can you hear me ?
And when you're dancing and laughing
And finally living
Hear my voice in your head
And think of me kindly"

genius

veryslowey

:rolleyes:

yevveh

Love Hatful of Hollow and the Queen is Dead. Favourite song is probably "What Difference Does It Make?". Everything about the band is just brilliant. What more can I say.

Did anyone else catch These Charming Men in TBMC there? Morrissey himself says they're the best Smiths cover band around and I'd have to agree. Fantastic gig.

John

veryslowey wrote:

:rolleyes:

Good point, I like how you phrased it

squire89

I remember when i first heard the Smiths, it was in a club that played all the crappy pop music from the 80's and i didnt want to be there at all.

Then a song comes on and i hear the line "burn down the disco, hang the blessed DJ cos the music that they constantly play says nothing to me about my life"

It was exactly how i felt and i laughed out loud.


What a great band, i wish i was around when they were out. Theres nothing like that nowadays. Libertines were great but didnt even come close to the Smiths

fourmations

yep, I'll sign up to this one

fave album, the debut

fave songs:
stretch out and wait,
shakepeares sister,
i want the one i cant have,
shoplifters,
the queen is dead,

fave lyric,
"she said i know you and you cannot sing
I said "thats nothing you should hear me play piano"

huge influence on me and have shaped my musical tastes forever

also think his solo stuff is brilliant and all in all (due to much more material)
surpasses the smiths (......runs for cover)

ciao

4

mr_angry

Hmmm. Morrissey has had a couple of really good solo tracks, but overall, I don't think it really bears comparison to the work of The Smiths. I find that the musical accompanyment of his solo work is fairly bland and un-interesting (with a couple of exceptions), whereas Marr's guitar playing had a melody about it that was interesting in its own right.

Having said that, I thought that The Smiths themselves were a bit 'hit & miss'. Without a doubt, they have some outstanding tracks, but I thought that a lot of their album stuff was filler, and any time I listen, I regularly skip over 5 or 6 tracks. "What Difference Does It Make?" is the outstanding song for me, but its impossible to deny the genius of "How Soon Is Now?" and "This Charming Man". I remember the first time I worked out the words to the latter, and thought to myself "Can this song really be about a punctured bicycle"?

yevveh

mr_angry wrote:

Hmmm. Morrissey has had a couple of really good solo tracks, but overall, I don't think it really bears comparison to the work of The Smiths. I find that the musical accompanyment of his solo work is fairly bland and un-interesting (with a couple of exceptions), whereas Marr's guitar playing had a melody about it that was interesting in its own right.

Very much in agreement. Haven't got any of his albums yet, just heard a few tracks.

funktastic

'Viva Hate' is probably his best solo work.

mada999

Quality...

love the way some of the songs are sad but they are played/sung in an upbeat tempo...

Faves are Girlfriend in a coma and there is a light...(is this the correct title?)

cousin_borat

mr_angry wrote:

Hmmm. Morrissey has had a couple of really good solo tracks, but overall, I don't think it really bears comparison to the work of The Smiths.

I tend to disagree, Vauxhall and I stands up well to anything he done with the Smiths.

RadioGaGa

Cemetry Gates is a brilliant song, Morrissey's lyrics are amazing in every song he writes

Royale with Cheese

The Smiths suck. There's my 2 cents

Lunar Junkie

Fantastic band, an astonishingly high standard maintained across four albums and a load of great singles.. Personal favourite tunes: Back to the Old House, Still Ill, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore, A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours.. The book 'The Severed Alliance' by Johnny Rogan is well worth reading if you're interested in their back story. The problem with Morrissey on his own is that he doesn't write any music himself, so he's pretty much dependent on the abilities of his collaborators - the tired Britrock stylings of his current band don't do a whole lot to inspire..

whirlwind

well loads of replies there. I think still ill is the best song followed by there is a light... and then this charming man.

Morrissey's best solo album is in fact you are the quarry, what a comeback. His first album ever to rival the Smiths. I wasnt to keen on the follow up, ringleader of the tomenters, though

judas101

fourmations wrote:

also think his solo stuff is brilliant and all in all (due to much more material)
surpasses the smiths (......runs for cover)

i agree fully

MoominPapa

For lol every time I hear it - Big mouth strikes again "Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking when I said I'd like to smash every tooth in your head. And now I know how Joan of Arc felt. NOW I KNOW HOW JOAN OF ARC FELT" narcissism at its hilarious best

stolenwine

Has anyone been to see "these chaming men" any good? I've seen morrissey live twice- quarry tour and ringleader and each time it's been like a religious experience. Although I don't understand why fans champion quarry over ringleader. It's more edgy darker, a far better arrangement musically. Love tony visconti.

Doolie

I've seen These Charming Men a few times now and would recommend them. They play in the Temple Bar Music Centre tomorrow night so if ye like the Smiths and Moz come along.:p

Trouble

There is no person on this earth that can write lyrics as Morrissey can.
I love the Smiths because they really had a distinctive sound thanks to Moz/Marr but I think that Morrisseys solo career is where he came into his own lyrically.
There is no other music I listen to that actually makes me laugh out loud. He is a genius.

nyarlothothep

I like marrs work guitar work, I dont like Morrisseys lyrics at all though, overall Ill listen to the music rather than the lyrics and musically the smiths are good

DarkJager

Suffer Little Children has to be one of my favorites alongside There is a light. I like a lot of Morriseys solo stuff as well such as November spawned a monster, boxers and the entire "You Are The Quarry" album. The smiths get 2 thumbs up from me!

sham69

Fantastic band, I love Marrs playing, he was/is one of the best rythm players going. I saw Morrissey twice in the last 2 years, bitterly disappointed at the length of the concert andthe choice of songs, not enough smiths songs for me...
I know people are going to reply saying its a Morrissey tour not a smiths one but
I was a bit disappointed. When I saw him in Dublin castle he played just over an hour, pretty much the same in the ******* after that.
For the price of the tickets I thought it was a rip off , legend or not.
These Charming Men: Saw them 3 times so far, excellent, the last time I saw them they played almost 2 hours. Great value for money and definitely recommended...

Rnger

The Smiths: How to get into a depressing mood

i do love them but their lyrics are never up beat... stupid morrisey

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

Oh my god I just can't listen to them I love the lyrics, but I have an allergic reaction to morrisey, christ almighty what a voice, I don't know any other singer that within two seconds of hitting a note, any note, makes me think they must be an absolute tosspot (an opinion reinforced by any of his interviews I've ever read or heard). I actually have to turn the radio off if they come on. Weird thing is, pete doherty's voice is strikingly similar and the lyrics nowhere near as good, but I could listen to the libertines all day.

nlgbbbblth

Smiths album poll

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=313503

goodfela

Rnger wrote:

The Smiths: How to get into a depressing mood

i do love them but their lyrics are never up beat... stupid morrisey

If you don't understand how much humour is in Morrissey's lyrics are then you are the stupid one..

nyarlothothep

goodfela wrote:

If you don't understand how much humour is in Morrissey's lyrics are then you are the stupid one..

or maybe morrissey just doesnt cut it on the comedy circuit...

John

goodfela wrote:

If you don't understand how much humour is in Morrissey's lyrics are then you are the stupid one..

No need to call him stupid because he doesn't like the lyrics, it's his opinion, deal with it.

DublinWriter

Lunar Junkie wrote:

Fantastic band, an astonishingly

I first heard The Smiths when I was listening to Radio Sunshine on a Walkman on the top deck of a bus travelling along Portmarnock Strand back one sunny afternoon in 1983. All of nearly 25 years ago now.

The song was 'William It Was Really Nothing' and I fell in love with the band ever since.

I hadn't a clue about Morrisey, or the visual aspect of the band. At the time the very name of the band itself 'The Smiths' was subversive in its unassuming banality.

You have to remember that at the time it was the high-tide of the New Romanctics...Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, the more bizarre and exotic the band name the better.

The very act of calling your band 'The Smiths' was the very anthesis to all the faux, pastel coloured, shoot-your-video-on-a-yacht in Rio nonscence.

The first time I saw them on TV, I couldn't believe they were just a four-piece. People always bang-on about Clapton and Hendrix, but I've never heard a guitarist fill so much empty space and cover so much ground lyrically than Johnny Marr. As for Morrisey, it takes seriously big balls to go on stage and use a 1950's style hearing age as a stage-prop.

My Smiths LPs and CDs are about the only thing I listen to now without feeling nostalgic. Their sound was just so original and apart from anything else of its time that it's still vital and resonates today.

Legend20

ive gotten into the smiths in the last year and a half, and they are now one of my favourite bands and have probably 1 of my top 3 favourite albums (The Queen Is Dead) they are just so good! favourite song is probably Panic or I Know It's Over

gustavo

like Legend20 , I just got into them this time last year , Got the greatest hits ( the one with Charlie Hawtrey ) and just started listening to tracks off it intermittently till one day i decided i needed to get all the albums , only Strangeways here we come to go now,, some of my faves at the min are , Headmaster Ritual , Some Girls are bigger than others , Girlfriend in a Coma , I know its over,

The great thing about the lyrics is that they are so funny and that even when the subject matter is depressing you know he is probably writing with tongue firmly in cheek , ie How soon is Now , Girlfriend...

Legend20

gustavo wrote:

like Legend20 , I just got into them this time last year , Got the greatest hits ( the one with Charlie Hawtrey ) and just started listening to tracks off it intermittently till one day i decided i needed to get all the albums , only Strangeways here we come to go now,, some of my faves at the min are , Headmaster Ritual , Some Girls are bigger than others , Girlfriend in a Coma , I know its over,

The great thing about the lyrics is that they are so funny and that even when the subject matter is depressing you know he is probably writing with tongue firmly in cheek , ie How soon is Now , Girlfriend...

exactly the same as me!! i got TQID, didnt listen to it much, then got the greatest hits and then that was it, loved them ever since!!

whirlwind

I stumbled across the smiths while listening to windows media player on random about a year and a half ago. I heard there is a light and thought it was amazing. I listened to it for the rest of the night. I now consider it the greatest song ever. I own every Smiths and morrissey album now and my recent purchase of southpaw grammer. Even though i dont listen to them every day when i do i tend to it for hours. what do ye (legend 20 and ) think of morrissey solo stuff. It the closest you can get to the smiths live now.

stovelid

So hand in glove, I stake my claim, I'll fight to the last breath
If they dare touch a hair on your head, I'll fight to the last breath

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From a seat on a whirling waltzer
Her skirt ascends for a watching eye
It's a hideous trait (on her mother's side)

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There's ice on the sink where we bathe
So how can you call this a home
When you know it's a grave ?

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I thought that if you had
An acoustic guitar
Then it meant that you were
A Protest Singer
Oh, I can smile about it now
But at the time it was terrible

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